Joe Biden claimed during a Wednesday speech in Colorado that his late son Beau Biden died in combat. While speaking in Vail, Colorado, he mentioned a story about World War II and then referenced that his son, Beau, “lost his life in Iraq.” He said, “American soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division scaled that 1800-foot cliff at night, caught the Germans by surprise, captured key positions, and broke through the German defense line at a pivotal point in the war,” Biden said. “Just imagine, and I say this as a father of a man who won the Bronze Star, the conspicuous service medal, and lost his life in Iraq. Imagine the courage, the daring, and the genuine sacrifice — the genuine sacrifice they all made.”

The Daily Wire reports:

President Biden’s son Beau joined the Delaware National Guard in 2003, and served in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, deploying to Iraq for a year in 2008. He passed away in 2015 after a battle with glioblastoma — the same kind of brain tumor that the late Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was battling when he passed away in August of 2018.

President Biden has speculated in the past that toxins arising from burn pits — which are used to incinerate waste in forward operating areas — may have played a role in causing his son’s cancer.

“Because of his exposure to burn pits — in my view, I can’t prove it yet, he came back with stage four glioblastoma. Eighteen months he lived, knowing he was going to die,” Biden said in a 2019 speech.

In 2021, the Biden administration announced a plan to better understand and treat service members whose health conditions may be related to working in toxic environments. “Anybody who was anywhere near those burn pits, that’s all they have to show and they get covered, they get all their health care covered,” Biden said.

During a 2018 interview, Biden said he had been unaware of “direct scientific evidence” of a link between his son’s death and exposed burn pits and other toxic substances.